Hi Discus Lover.
I have tried this informationa and it work for me.
The initial water (I have well water in my particular California suburb) coming into my house is too poor for professional Discus breeding. It is way too hard (minerals dissolved in the water) at almost 500 parts per million… too alkaline (at a PH of 8.7), with too many other “bad things” in the water. Yet, by the time it reaches my fish tanks it is perfect for Discus.
My water correction is done, very simply, without too much effort. In fact the water that passes through my very simply self installed reverse osmosis water filter (a higher water production capacity 750 gallon per day, “GE Merlin” reverse osmosis unit purchased right on eBay. A lower sized water gallons produced per day unit will probably work just fine for you) unit and comes to the outlet over my fish tanks (at a hardness of 60 parts per million and a PH of 6.3) is so pure that I actually use that same water for my drinking water. After going through the reverse osmosis filter unit the water is much purer, and healthier, than ANY bottled drinking water on the market. It has almost no minerals, no toxins, and is 99.9% free of all bacteria, viruses, germs, microscopic organisms, parasites, and other pathogens.
I know many lucky Discus breeders around the country whose initial water coming into their home is already absolutely perfect for professionally breeding Discus, and nothing at all has to be done to it. The water in every area is different. Test yours, or have it tested, before you start breeding Discus, it’s well worth the effort or small cost.
STEP 1
MAINTAIN EACH BREEDING PAIR
IN THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL TANK
a) – A water temperature of about 86ºF for the breeding pair.
(Discus require water temperatures higher than many other breeds of tropical fish of between 80º and 86ºF). The 86ºF mark is for breeding pairs and breeding tanks.
A lower temperature (about 84ºF) is for tanks holding Discus past the fry stage, and involved in normal activities. Water temperature is “pushed” to 90 ºF (never higher) in the tanks with young fry to encourage their rapid growth).
– Absolutely No Chlorine, No Chloramines
c) – A slightly acid PH of between 6.0 and 6.5.
d) – Water in the breeding tank should be very soft with a total
hardness of less than 70 Parts Per Million (4º DH).
e) - Ammonia and Nitrite levels should both be zero
And Nitrate levels should be kept as low as possible.
f) - The breeding tank should contain a large, adequately sized, EFFECTIVE!
biological filter. The higher the organic load, the larger the sponge filter(s)
must be.
(Two styles of biological sponge filters that are popular with professional Discus breeders)
Each adult breeding pair’s tank should be approx 20 to 29 gallons. BUT NOT LARGER. This size helps keep the newborn fry close to the parents for better parental
control, of, and feeding of the newborn fry. – The breeding tank should be what is called a “sterile tank”... meaning that the tank only contains a glass bottom, no
substrate no gavel no plants, no ornaments, absolutely nothing in the tank except a heater, and an aerated biological sponge filter to oxygenate the water and
biologically control the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate. This sponge filter makes water hygiene easier, creating conditions under which more young discus can be more
successfully produced, and in less space.
You MUST supply the breeding pair with highly nutritious food & lots of constant good quality water. The better the breeding pairs health and condition, the better the
size, frequency, strength, heartiness, and success of their spawns will be.
Before originally having been put into the breeding tank, the breeding pair should have been prophylacticly treated to eliminate any possible hidden parasites and/or other pathogens so they do not pass them on to the new fry.
No live food other than Brine Shrimp should be fed because of the high risk that these live foods are carrying parasites or other pathogens. It is very safe to assume that some parasites and/or other pathogens are ALWAYS! present in all Discus. They are usually held in check by their low quantities, tank cleanliness, and/or the healthy Discuses well functioning immune system.
These pathogens are simply waiting for the fish to stress, weaken and/or become mal nourished all short circuiting the Discuses immune system, so that the pathogens can then successfully attack the host Discus and thus flourish themselves.
Once the pathogens that are already there are allowed to flourish, besides causing serious damage to the host fish, they can then attack every other fish in the tank, and then every other tank that you also put your hands or the same nets, etc. into. All your fish then have the start of an epidemic outbreak.
With Discus, An ounce of prevention is worth a hundred pounds of cure. Discus are too expensive, and too sensitive, to be needlessly put at risk.
Massive water changes in addition to helping keep the breeding pair in top condition, and the fry to grow faster, also help to flush some of these pathogens, that might be temporarily “free swimming”, out of the tank and thus help to keep their numbers in check.
Place a convenient egg laying surface (such as a piece of slate, inverted flower pot, ceramic spawning cone, brick, piece of PVC pipe, etc.) into the tank with the breeding pair.
Discus scare and “spook” VERY easily (that’s why their tanks are placed up high). It is suggested that you provide a “sight barrier” by covering the outside of the tanks bottom, its 2 sides, and rear, glass areas of the tank with paint or some form of paper, tank backing material, etc. to help the Discus feel more secure. The front glass of the tank (and the open top) is then the only place that the Discus can see things through that might scare them. And so that they are not also bothered by the activities of the fish in adjoining tanks.
Many a Discus was so focused on protecting their eggs from the imagined danger from the Discus that they saw in the adjoining tank that they missed fertilizing a good portion of the eggs. Or ate the eggs as a result of their fear
A massive water change (over 50%), at a couple of degrees slightly colder temperature than the tank water, sometimes helps induce spawning in a pair that is otherwise ready.
STEP 2
STOP ALL FEEDING AND WATER
CHANGES ONCE EGGS ARE LAID
Stop feeding the parents as soon as the eggs are laid so as not to foul the water. It won’t hurt the adult breeders. They can safely go without food for several days.
After the eggs are laid, remove the sponge filter from the tank, (quickly put it into another occupied tank to keep the beneficial bacteria in the sponge alive) and
add Methylene Blue (Methylene Blue would have killed the beneficial bacteria colonizing in the biological sponge filter) to the water with the eggs to protect the eggs from fungus (fungus on eggs is white and threadlike, looking something like fluffy cotton) caused by any unfertilized eggs in the spawn. In a day or two, any
unfertilized eggs will be white and easily distinguishable from the darker fertilized eggs. If any fungus on the eggs is allowed to grow it will eventually spread and
engulf ALL the eggs and the wiggler fry, killing both.
You can siphon out minimal amounts of water from the bottom in order to remove the feces and any previously uneaten food without replacing the water. When you resume feeding the parents match the amount of food given to them to their appetite. Spawning Discus do not have much appetite. Thus it becomes easy to foul the tank with excessive food.
The dosage rate for Methylene Blue is 6 drops per gallon of water. This will turn the water very dark blue and make it almost impossible to see the eggs in the water.
If you wish, you can start with a lower dose so that you can still observe the eggs in the water. But!… if you observe the FIRST SIGNS of ANY white fungus “threads” on any eggs quickly increase your initial milder dosage to 6 drops per gallon. If you start with a milder dose you must keep constantly vigilance observing the eggs very carefully. Increase the dosage to 6 drops per gallon at the very first early signs of any fungus threads or “fuzz” on ANY eggs.
CAUTION… any changes inside the tank, to the tank water, or to the fish’s environment could cause the parents to get upset and eat the eggs, or eat the fry after the eggs hatch. And turning the tank water blue with Methylene Blue dye is a MAJOR change to their world. Keep an eye out for their reaction to Methylene Blue the first few times it is used with any new pair. Place an air stone with an EXTREMELY low force air stream into the tank near the eggs. Its use is only to SLOWLY! move the oxygenated water around the eggs (similar to the parents fanning the eggs). Do not allow the Bubbles or the water flow to actually touch, or to “rough up”, the eggs.
Remember the air bubble flow is designed to duplicate the parents very gentle fanning of the eggs.
For the occasional pairs that repeatedly eat their eggs place a Guard around the eggs (a wire mesh of approx 13mm squares and placed about 13mm out from the eggs) right after the eggs are laid so that the parents can see the eggs, and fan the eggs, but can’t eat them.
STEP 3
EGGS TYPICALLY HATCH IN THE
60TH HOUR AFTER FERTILIZATION.
This hatching time is true for MOST strains of Discus. Hatching time can be shortened if the water temperature, in the tank containing the eggs, is warmer (86 to 90
ºF).When the fry first hatch the fry in this initial stage are called “WIGGLERS” and they stick to the surface they were laid on by a sticky thread attached to their head (This is stage 1 - of fry development).
TIP
At this stage of fry development, the “wigglers” cannotaccept food. They are still consuming their yolk sack. Theycan’t eat. No mouth or anus has developed yet.
STEP 4
About 60 HOURS AFTER HATCHING
THE FRY START TO “FREE SWIM”
Which means 5 days after the eggs were laid. (This is the 2nd stage - of fry development) At this “Free Swimming” stage the fry start to pick at, and feed off of,
“slime” secretions from the sides of their parent’s bodies.
These secretions, provided by both the male and female parents, are the fry’s first source of food other than their own yolk sack. It provides the fry with the correct and necessary nourishment for the best start in life and also with immunities just like mothers milk in humans. Under normal circumstances the feeding fry should double in size after approximately the next 36 hours.
You should now remove the “egg laying object” that you had placed into the tank so that the fry are not distracted away, or get lost from, their parents. This interferes with the parents feeding and care. Fry will first be attracted to anything of a dark color in the tank and will swim towards the dark object FIRST instead
of their parents.It is ultra important that the fry swim to their parents for food at this early stage. It is absolutely necessary for their survival.
Any fry distracted too far away from their parents at this stage can become weak, from not eating, and die. They must not swim around aimlessly. They must soon find, and feed from, the secretions on their parent’s bodies. That’s why I keep fry in a smaller tank more closely confined to their parents.
Even the tanks water height is kept lower than the tanks physical height to accomplish keeping the fry in close proximity to their parents.
The parents sometimes pick up the fry into their mouth, swish the fry around, and then spit them out. The parents may decide to start moving the fry around the tank and hiding them in different places… using their mouth as the “taxi”.
Don’t always assume that when the parents put the fry into their mouth that they are eating them…
MY DISCUS LIFELONG INCOME SYSTEM
STEP 5
ON THE 2nd DAY
AFTER “FREE SWIMMING”
Which means 7 days after the eggs were laid… CAREFULLY & GENTLY siphon all debris off the bottom of the tank & GENTLY make the fry’s first small water change.
Allow the incoming water to run against your hand in the tank to soften its flow and not harm the fry. Be very careful of the water quality, & temperature you are
putting back into tank (no temperature variation from the existing tank water, no chlorine, chloramines, etc. the same corrected pre adjusted PH). Causing any shock, or stress of any kind, might quickly kill the fry.
STEP 6
ON THE 5th DAY
AFTER “FREE SWIMMING”
The fry should start to be weaned off eating from their parents bodies now.
Start feeding them LIVE newly hatched baby Brine Shrimp (this size of brine shrimp must be hatched yourself from brine shrimp eggs… these newly hatched live brine shrimp are typically not available from pet shops) which means you must start the brine shrimp hatching process the day before they will be needed. Feed only TINY quantities the first few days.
Not much will be eaten the first few days. So don’t feed too much and risk fouling the tank.
The fry are also STILL feeding “off the parents” and it will take them a few days to get used to the Brine Shrimp. At the beginning they won’t know what it is & won’t go after it. Place it “in a cloud” right on top of, or extremely close to them.
TIP
Use a narrow tube, eye dropper, or plastic medical syringe (with the needle removed) to blow the newborn brine shrimp right at them or over the top of an adult discus
with fry at its side. By the 2nd or 3rd feeding of Brine Shrimp the fry will start to venture out a little further from their parents to accept the Shrimp. The fry will eventually eagerly accept the Brine Shrimp as their food and will slowly wean off of the “slime” secretions of the adult Discus. The parents are usually annoyed by the tiny baby Brine Shrimp swimming all around them.
You will usually be able to tell when the fry are actually eating the brine shrimp. You will start to notice the fry making lots of “darting motions” when they are near the baby brine shrimp. Also the fry’s bellies will be pink showing the color of the brine shrimp they are eating. The fry’s bellies will also become full and rounded as they gorge on the brine shrimp.
STEP 7
ON THE 10TH DAY
AFTER “FREE SWIMMING
In this stage of fry development… in addition to feeding baby Brine Shrimp you can now start to SLOWLY introduce VERY FINELY GROUND (almost liquefied like baby food) nutritious animal based food to the fry. (heart meat from… Cow, Pork, Chicken or Turkey), or my specially prepared home made food. NOTE: Frozen beef heart (as the only ingredient) is available at many pet shops.
Even frozen forms of live foods such as frozen daphnia, tubiflex, blood worms, worms, mosquito larva etc. might still introduce pathogens into water even though their sellers might claim that they are clean, parasite and other pathogen free. It’s simply not worth the risk. Some pathogen cysts (eggs) are not killed by freezing. Some of the cysts simply lay dormant until thawed, when they can hatch out and attach your valuable prize Discus.
Frozen and/or live Brine Shrimp is O.K. because it comes from salt water and contains pathogens that don’t affect fresh water fish.
Fry should be fed AT LEAST 4 times a day and preferably more for maximum growth.
Some professional breeders feed Discus fry as often as 9 TIMES A DAY (called force feeding) to induce maximum growth. Feed as often as possible (as long as the fry show no signs of stress and the water is not fouling). The results are worth it.
But that much feeding must be accompanied by constant siphoning of debris from the bottom of the tank and massive daily water changes to keep Ammonia and bacteria levels in check.
Good luck.
Vietsatt.